THE FOUNDER OF
PHARISAICAL LAW KEEPING...
SANBALLAT

By Steve Van Nattan

Who was the first man to lead a movement to counterfeit the Hebrew people, their God, and their worship?

I believe Sanballat was the first to try this, and in worldly terms, he was very successful.

SANBALLAT'S NAME AND HERITAGE:

Here is ISBE on his name:

Sanballat is the Babylonian Sin-uballit, "may Sin give him life," a name occurring a number of times in the contract tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, and Darius Hystaspis. (See Tallquist, Neubabylonisches Namenbuch, 183.)

I agree with this in principle, but this is not enough. "San" was clearly a vowel change, as ISBE noted, in the name of "Sin." Sin was the god of Sinai and was worshipped there by a tribe of Arabs well after the day of Christ. This was a male moon god, which is rare, the goddess being the moon deity about 95% of the time in the Middle Eastern pantheon. The ISBE note of "give him life" does not finish the thought. It is the goddess which is seen as giving life in ALL the pantheon from Sumer on down to the time of Christ. The goddess ending was ILAT, the feminine form of ILAH. The ILAH form came through about 3500 years into the god name ALLAH of Islam, and the ILAT feminine evolved into ALLAT, the goddess of Taif in Muhammed's day. Allat was the goddess gender complement of ALLAH. So, the life giver was ALLAT, and it is more accurate to read the meaning of Sanballat as, "May Sin give him the life of the goddess."

Sanballat seems to have received from the Persian government some authority over the Samaritans and imported Cuthites, as one of the governors west of the Euphrates. When Nehemiah came from Shushan to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:10 and 19) circa 454 BC, and began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Sanaballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab taunted him. These three sent to inquire on what authority Nehimiah undertook this enterprise, and whether it were not a revolt against the king.

A brief history of the ancestries of these men further highlights the animosity between them and Israel. Both the Moabites and Ammonites were distant relatives of the Jews, having originated from the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters (Gen. 19:36-38). God had given them a land-inheritance on the eastern side of Jordan and instructed the Israelites not to harass them (Deut. 2:9, 19). Because they were inhospitable toward Israel and hired Balaam to curse God's people, it was written in the Law that no Ammonite or Moabite was to be admitted into the assembly of the Lord (Neh. 13:1-2; Deut. 23:3-4).

The Samaritans were also antagonistic toward the Jews. When the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom was based in Samaria (I Kings 16:29). Assyria deposed the northern kingdom and repopulated Samaria with pagans from other nations (II Kings 17:24). During Zerubbabel's leadership of rebuilding the temple, the Samaritans were refused participation and then sought to hinder the work (Ezra 4:1-5).

Bethhoron, Sanballat's home area, was a town in Moab. Tobiah, the confederate of Sanballat, had married a Hebrew woman, and later he was given quarters within Jerusalem. Sanballat's daughter became the wife of one of the sons of Joiada, a son of the high priest, and Nehemiah had a continuing controversy with these intruders (Nehemiah 13:28).

Tobiah and Sanballat hired a false prophet to tempt Nehemiah into sin and to compromise his reputation. To flee into God's sanctuary would have been a violation of the Law (Num. 18:7; II Chron. 26:16-21) and a poor example for the rest of Israel. But Nehemiah was a man of integrity and conviction. "Should such a man as I flee?" (6:11). He knew this prophet's message could not have come from Jehovah. He prayed and turned his troubles over to the Lord (6:14).

Tobiah was in alliance with the nobles of Judah, and he used his ties to create dissension in the ranks. When the devil could not deter the efforts of the early church with external persecution (Acts 4:17-21; 5:17-33), he turned to internal strife (Acts 6:1). In like manner, Tobiah was able to make such inroads into the heart of Israel's spiritual life because his wife and daughter-in-law were Israelites.

SANBALLAT'S WORKS:

Israel’s archaeology chief for the West Bank, Yitzhak Magen, spoke about the 5th-century BCE Samaritan leader Sanballat, who built an exact replica of the Second Temple on Mt. Gerizim, some 50 kms (30 miles) to the north of Jerusalem. “Sanballat,” remarks Magen, “understood there was a connection between religion and politics.”

The historian Flavius Josephus offers a tale of to explain Sanballat’s building project: His daughter Nikasso married Menashe, brother of the high priest in Jerusalem, and when Menashe was expelled from the City of David for marrying outside of Israel, his new father-in-law built him a temple of his own up north. But there was a practical basis for Sanballat’s action too: He and the Jewish leader Nehemiah were involved in a power struggle. Sanballat figured that if he built a religious center of ritual sacrifice on Gerizim, it would draw people away from Jerusalem and increase his political influence.

Mt. Gerizim is of significant archaeological interest today because any information gleaned about the temple that stood there can only add to our knowledge of the original Second Temple in Jerusalem because it was thought to be a very good counterfeit. The Gerizim temple too was destroyed by Hasmonean leader Yohanan Hyrcanus, in the late 2nd century BCE as he cleansed Israel of paganism.

The Romans followed, and they built a temple to Jupiter on Mount Gerizim. They were succeeded by the Byzantines Christians, who hated the Samaritans at least as much as the Jews. So they did what every conquering religion does in the place of another faith’s shrine: They built a large church, called Mary Theotokos (Greek for “Mother of God”). It in turn was destroyed after the Muslim conquerors, but has been partially restored today by the archaeological team.

SANBALLAT'S IMPACT ON HISTORY:

How interesting that the "Mother of God" temple of ancient Roman Papal paganism would end up sitting on the very spot where Sanballat, the one who was given life by the goddess Allat, built his ecumenical temple.

We have all heard of the Samaritans, but few know who they are. In fact, there are today 600 of them still alive, split between Mt. Gerizim and the city of Holon, south of Tel Aviv. The Five Books of Moses are holy to them (though their version varies slightly from that of the Jews), but not the Prophets or Writings, and their practices are in many ways similar to those of Jews. Samaritan scriptures are very close to the Hebrew, but names and places were changed long ago so that the covenants and blessing to Israel are made to be to the Samaritans instead. So, their scriptures are counterfeit and worthless.

Let us run down a bit of a rabbit trail here. When the modern legalizers grab the Old Testament Covenants, Feasts, and Mosaic laws and try to superimpose them on the Lord's Church, the Church "Free from the law, O blessed condition," what are they doing? Are they not blaspheming the work of Jesus Christ who paid the price, answered the "school master," and sent us on our way into Christian Liberty? We must call modern legalism and Phariseeism what it is-- the concision-- mutilators-- a botched circumcision-- a mongrel counterfeit Bride-- indeed, a Whore! The garments of Phariseeism are filthy, not white robes of righteousness cleansed by the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. And, to add empirical proof to my contention, I note that there is no hate more vicious and hateful than modern Pharisee hate for Bible believers who do not agree with them. Heresy is fragile-- the truth stands firm but walks on when it meets the heretic. We have no need to threaten-- hell is hot enough already. More on this later.

Samaritan tradition says their people were the tribes of Ephraim and Menassah, who stayed behind in the Land of Israel when the other eight tribes of the northern kingdom were exiled to Assyria around 720 BC. Many events that Jews associate with Jerusalem, Samaritans connect to Mt. Gerizim. They believe that it is the real Moriah, where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. They say that Joshua built the first Tabernacle on the hill and that the split with the Jews began when two priestly brothers built an counterfeit Tabernacle at Shiloh.

Nothing epitomizes the difference between the Samaritan religion and that of the Jews better than the rivalry between the shrines at Mt. Moriah and Mt. Gerizim (see photo, which is used by permission), itself the continuation of a more ancient rivalry between Jerusalem and Shechem. Just as the Jews face the Temple Mount of Jerusalem in prayer, so the Samaritans face the site of their destroyed Temple at Mt. Gerizim. Even without their temple standing, the Samaritans have, until the present, continued to make pilgrimages to Mt. Gerizim during the three pilgrimage festivals of the liturgical year (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot), and to hold most of their public ceremonies there during the rest of the year.

Samaritans believe that when the Messiah comes, he will reveal the location of the cave where the worship vessels used in the tabernacle have been hidden, though the Samaritans do not claim their temple will be rebuilt. Today, Gerizim is in the heart of what will be the future Palestinian state if an agreement is ever reached. Islam claims that Abraham set out on Mount Gerizim to offer Ishmael in sacrifice, and Allah stopped him and gave another sacrifice. So, soon Islam may have the final fruit of Sanballat, blessed of Allat the goddess, and taken over at the end of the age by Allah, Allat's consort.

SEE SAMARITANS AT A RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL ON MOUNT GERIZIM IN 1930

You must read this account of a modern Samaritan Passover.

Ironically, the modern day Samaritans have a more genuine passover than the Israelis. Even more ironically, the modern day Samaritans can stand on their own alleged temple mount, Gerizim, on the very spot where their temple stood long ago, while the Israelis cannot do any ceremony on their temple mount. They do not even know for sure where the temple stood.

CONCLUSION:

At the end of the Church Age, the Age of Grace, the law has been institutionalized again. This is being done by all Law Keepers, Sabbatarians, and the most Fundamental, Baptist, King James Only people today. This is just as counterfeit as the first Ecumenical Law Keeping movement of Sanballat as he appended the cults of the Middle East to Elohim in his great temple on the mountain.

People from Baptist, Pentecostal, Holiness, and many other alleged Christian backgrounds, are coming into small groups and keeping the law. They may meet on the Sabbath, and keep the Passover, they do the feasts and holy days, they blow the shofar, they use Hebrew names for God, and many other such legal Pharisaical devices. I say Pharisaical because Jesus accused the Pharisees in his day of adding the traditions of man to the Law of Moses. It is now a wicked thing to add the Law of Moses to the Apostolic teachings for the Church, when Moses' Law was meant to be only a "schoolmaster" according to Paul.

Galatians 3:24 (KJV) Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The keeping of the Law went up to mount Calvary on the back of Jesus Christ and was nailed to the cross and left there. Shame on all who would pull that law down off the cross and lay it on the back of the Lord's precious sheep.

They, like the Samaritans, have a higher order of religion than Judaism today. But, by Apostolic standards, their religion is as mongrelized as the Samaritans. How very peculiar that Phariseeism is still with us today.

So, can modern Phariseeism simply be a novel twist on true Christianity? Is it not merely an innocent feeling-oriented invention which is really more audio visual aid than heresy?

Do we really need to consider Phariseeism to be a cult?

What did the New Testament writers say about a Hebrewizing of the Gospel and the Lord's Church?

Acts 13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

After this introduction, Paul reviewed the work of Jehovah with the leaders of this synagogue. Here is the conclusion of Paul's speech there:

Acts 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

So, Paul had no hope for these people. The synagogue, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, became a place of rebellion and unbelief. Thus it is with the modern Phariseeism in any local church. They refuse to live by Grace alone. They lust for Law.

Acts 13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

And the modern Pharisees will speak boldly in mockery of anyone who deifies their journey from Grace back to Ghehennah via Law.

Acts 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

Rough bunch, these Pharisees.

Revelation 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Anyone who makes a cult of Moses' Law-- a mongrel hybrid of the Church and the Law, will one day worship at the feet of those who refused this system of deceit. This implies that "Christian" Pharisees, if they really believe they must keep the Law, will go to hell for it.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

So, modern Pharisees in the Church will NOT be kept from the hour of temptation, the Great Tribulation. They, as lost rebels, will go THROUGH the Great Tribulation. This is a serious consideration.

Who are the children of Abraham? Those who keep the Law of Moses? Read:

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

So, the children of Abraham are those who walk by "sola fide," as Martin Luther penned it. Faith is the ONLY foundation and basis of salvation and worship in the Age of the Church, the Age of Grace. It is absolutely impossible to mix them.

My son, Mike, worked with a number of Messianic Christians (oil and water). They were very savvy about the Messianic prophecies and at keeping the feast days and the law. But, their speech was exceedingly filthy. The "f" word and "s" work rolled with ease off of their tongues. You see, they had the law, but they were not born again by faith in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

They use Hebrew names for God, they greet as if these blond haired Anglos were Jewish, and they even call their alleged pastors "rabbi." They don't have a clue that they are reverting to the very thing Jesus hated in the nation of Israel.

Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

The only law we live by is the law of faith. The Law of Moses is not the saving, nor the preserving, work of Grace. The Blood of Jesus is the working force of Grace. So, to resort to Law is to deny the power of the Blood of Jesus to save AND to keep the saint saved.

Romans 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

So, modern Pharisees, whether in the World Wide Church of God, the Seventh Day Adventists, or the most Fundamental "Bible believing" church, by returning to Law keeping, have damned themselves to hell, for they are once again made sinners. Why? Answer: No one has ever kept the law to be saved. It is urgent to understand that the title Baptist, Pentecostal, or any other Bible based title has no bearing on your eternal destiny, IF you have piled a load of Law on top of your alleged faith.

Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

And so, the modern Pharisees have trodden under foot the Blood of Jesus Christ. They have rejected Grace and come back under condemnation, the "beggarly elements," for the Law did NOTHING but condemn every sinner who tried to keep it. These rebels have fallen into the hands of the living God, and their damnation slumbereth not.

If you are foisting Law, whether of Moses, your denomination, your scholar's union, or your brand of Christianity.... you are on your way to hell. You were never born again, for a true Bible believer would NEVER have any instinct or hunger for law after being liberated by Christ and living in Grace. You need to repent of mocking the Blood and love of Jesus Christ for you, and you need to reject the heresy.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Your rebellion against the Grace of Jesus Christ, and your rejection of those who walk in Grace alone, will bring you eternal shame in hell.

Is not this lust for Old Testament ritual and law demonic? I believe many modern Pharisees, and especially their leaders, are possessed of devils. This would explain why they are filled with so much hate and vengeance for those who have found the liberty which is in Christ Jesus.

Come out of her my people.

FIMDAMENTAL BIBLE BELIEVERS --
BEWARE

We have Bible belivers who are toying with Jewish feasts, ceremonies, the Passover, and other such Old Testament issues. They are added as if they help the saints understand what God was doing with Israel and the Age of Law. There is a deep seduction in this, for the feeling of doing something more than walking by faith is ever with all churches in the Age of Grace. Satan has already seduced many of you with "traditions of men" which you foist on the saints by calling them "Baptist standards" and "standards of holiness." It is only a very short journey from man made standards to the feasts, the Yahweh issue, and all manner of Old Testament legal devices.

Let me prove to you that you have already been infected. A question: How is your conversation and feeling for Israel and for the Arabs people? Are you partial in your emotional responses, for Israel and against the Arabs? Why? Did Jesus not die for all men? Did Paul not spend three years on the back side of the desert with Arabs while God taught him? Were there not Arabs in the upper room at Pentecost? Are the sons of Ishmael not promised a special reception from Messiah in the Kingdom as they come up to Zion to worship (Isaiah 60)?

If you hate Arabs and love Israel, you have the disease. If you do not repent, you may well slide on and on into Hebrew hubris.

Beware-- sin is at the door.

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